(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to marine docks and piers and more particularly to portable or demountable marine docks and piers.
(2) Brief Description of the Prior Art
The prior art discloses various portable or demountable marine piers.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,687,617 to Newell, for example, discloses a pier structure comprising side rails and legs. The legs are connected to their respective deck frames. The respective pier sections are detachably connected to the next preceding pier section by means of detachable couplings.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,081,601 to Fentiman discloses a demountable dock for small water craft comprising an elongated frame which includes knockdown girders that are rigidly braced in spaced parallel relation by crossed arms.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,046,748 to Monroe discloses a pier in which axially spaced, link connected brackets are secured to cross-bars to enable the pier to be foldable.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,104 to Hufford discloses a dock structure that is easily assembled or dismantled for winter storage including foldable support posts that are readily removable from a gangplank. When disassembled the gangplank is adapted for on shore storage. The shore end of the gangplank is removably connectable to an on shore support. At its opposite end the gangplank is removably connected to and supported by posts, which are secured at their lower ends to the bottom formation of a body of water. Submerged, pivotal coupling between the upper and lower ends of the post allow the upper post portions to rotate relative to the lower portions in relative rectilinear relationship for supporting the offshore end of the gangplank when the dock is assembled.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,397 to Albery discloses a modular dock system comprising one or more dock panels adapted to be interconnected into a pier. Each of said panels comprises a plurality of elongated extruded aluminum panel members having a flat upper wall, a pair of side walls having flanges along the lower edges and a central rib structure having lower flanges parallel of the flanges on the side wall. A pair of aluminum cross-members at opposite ends of the panel members have a channel shaped cross-section and a web secured to the flanges of said panel members and a pair of downwardly extending side flanges.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,398,849 to Moran et al. discloses a portable dock and dock sections having a plurality of frame members forming a rectangular deck frame for supporting a deck assembly, a pair of adjustable legs extending from adjacent one end of the rectangular deck frame and a first coupling unit disposed on a frame member at the other end of the deck frame.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,001 to Wetmore discloses a jackdown tension leg platform which may be used for processing a commodity liberated from the ocean floor by one or more wells. The platform includes a closed buoyant hull which houses production equipment and at least one connector disposed on the one end secured to the ocean floor which is moved upwardly relative to the hull to submerge the hull to a depth below the majority of the ocean's hydrostatic forces and, at the same time, tension the connector to hold and stabilize the hull over the wells. Conduits are connected between the wells and the submerged hull and between the hull and the surface.
Ballistic missile submarines are conventionally characterized by a Vertical Launch System (VLS) having a plurality of missile tubes. Such a system is usually serviced by a large structure that partially surrounds the submarine at its bow and on both lateral sides. Such a large steel structure conventionally requires a dockside crane and several men for a day to assemble.
In the case where only one or two tubes need a platform, or if a crane is not available, there is a need for a lightweight platform that could be carried and assembled by two men and stored on the submarine to allow for faster and better serviceability for the VLS.